The Seasons of Fundraising

• VC market has two peak windows; timing compounds your odds.
  • Jan–Spring Break and Labor Day–Thanksgiving are the hot seasons.
  • Summer and holidays are near-dead for closing decisions.
• Create competitive pressure: advance multiple firms toward term sheets simultaneously.
  • Perceived scarcity generates urgency and leverage.
• In-person presence during peak windows is non-negotiable.
  • Face-to-face energy drives serendipitous meetings and faster conviction.
• Start prep 12 months out; execute within a single season or you go stale.
• Know fund math: seed wants 10–30%, Series A wants 15–25%.
  • Structure your ask around investor ownership targets, not just check size.
• Speed signals strength; a prolonged round signals problems.
• Intro hierarchy: ecosystem figures > prior founders > trusted VCs > cold > bankers.

X discourse

• @dunleavy89: “The shift in the crypto fundraising landscape the past 6 months has been insane” (1028 likes)
• @sourceryy: “Founders Fund’s @zebulgar says you’ll perform better as a VC if you treat it as a hobby” (509 likes)
• @sohan_zhang: “decent respect gets thrown out the window in the fundraising process” (308 likes)
• @nikunj: “early stage founders optimizing for views and funding instead of product and retention” (230 likes)
• @NWischoff: “success at fundraising is 50% market timing and 50% strength of storytelling” (217 likes)
• @seesankalp: “founder season: friends doing start-ups, ZERO revenue systems, short term thinking, FOMO” (0 likes)

Omri Drory, Ph.D. — General Partner, NFX · 2025-08-26 · Read on nfx.com